How to become a system administrator - a guide for beginners (Part 1)
It so happened that this spring I spent searching for and interviewing people for four vacancies related to system administration. I talked to several dozens of people and noticed characteristic mistakes and problems they face. I set out what I noticed, as well as my thoughts, how to solve these problems.
scope: novice system administrators, system administrator assistants, etc. Experienced administrators, as well as those who have a very specific specialization will be useless if interesting.
The approximate structure of the cycle of articles - I will describe how I see the profession of a system administrator, analyze the current attitude to the profession on the part of the employer, then try to give general information about where to start and where to go next.
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If it is very rough, sysdamy are with a specialization, and without specialization. Usually they start their careers without specialization, then they have several "bent" branches of development and one or two or three, in which their future lives (the classic builds of characters in the RPG correspond very well to this). Sysadmin without specialization - enikeyschik-overgrown (I will analyze this thesis below). However, the demand for sysadmins of narrow specialization is lower (if we count in the pieces of vacancies) than sysadmins of universals (I will also reveal this thesis below). However, with a smaller number of vacancies, the real need for qualified specialists is much higher than there are specialists themselves, that is, the higher the qualification, the less competition. At some point you will have several offers from different companies, although you do not plan to leave the current one.
(Looking a little ahead - the higher the qualifications, the longer the new job is sought, for the top specialist to look for a job for half a year is quite normal. This is typical not only for administrators, but also for other professions with high responsibility and narrow specialization).
Since the sysadmin is a profession, they pay money for it. Money is usually paid by company employees. It means that companies need sysadmins.
So, in accordance with the above classification, there are two important types of employers - core and non-core.
Let's start with non-core. A non-core employer is a company that is NOT engaged in IT, or is engaged in it in a region far from a sysadmin. Bright "antipodes" of IT: travel agencies, real estate companies, auto dealers, etc. For them, the administrator is such an “electrician / manager of computers”. They do not need a complex infrastructure, they don’t know what the sysadmins are doing, what is complicated and what is simple there. They cannot control the quality of work of the sysadmin, and the only sign of its success is “working” or “no”. The exact level of the company's development varies greatly and can be reduced to “set up printers and ICQ” before accompanying rather exotic programs (medical institutions are particularly affected). In any case, the IT complexity of their configuration is often minimal, and there is no need to talk about the real “economy” of the sysadmin.
Separately, it is necessary to mention companies with a high degree of non-IT business identity. (A vivid example is trading networks, banks). Most often, in such a company there is a person who is able to assess the quality of work and the complexity of the decision, he is usually able to speak with a sysadmin in a normal language, and not express himself in bird words about “the Internet does not work”, “the processor under the table beeps”, etc d. However, despite the possible complexity of the configuration, it is completely limited by the budget and needs of the company, and usually does not require going beyond the minimum for work. The needs of the IT department are perceived as a pure burden that needs to be upheld in this very bird language.
The second type of employers is profile companies. Most major Internet sites are the same, such as hosters, data centers (if they do something other than renting units / dedicated), companies that have a business tied to computer technology (cellular companies, processing centers). Note that the profile companies also have non-core administrators (who are engaged in servicing workplaces in the back-office), when finding employment, you need to find out for yourself exactly what you are going to do.
Such companies usually look for employees “for tasks”, that is, they need a person who can deal with some area of ​​their activity.
An important feature of the profile companies is the constructiveness of what you are doing. You are no longer an “electrician by computer”, you are a person who determines how well the main tool of a company's business will work. There is usually no concept of "ceiling technology", or bird language.
In fact, such a profession does not exist. It so happened that many companies want to have in their staff a person who will be responsible “for everything computerized”. These are usually non-core companies. And they want one or two, not three dozen certified specialists. (For those who want to tell about their brilliant present in the face of the Oracle administrator, etc. - I repeat, we are talking about the situation on the market). Hence the simple rule: they will want everything from you right away. Moreover, in the future you will find that superficial knowledge about everything is not particularly appreciated. However, such jobs are a great place to start - you can try everything and see what you like the most.
Thus, there is an obvious contradiction between the work of a novice system administrator (more precisely, the requirements that are imposed on him) and further career growth. This contradiction does not appear immediately, but after a while, when a person masters work.
However, back to the work of the system administrator. Here is a list of areas that the system administrator most often encounters. Pay attention - these areas are much beyond the reasonable, but - see above, they want everything from you, at once, and preferably for little money:
(Speech about system administrators-universals, of course)
In addition, there are many specific areas: terminal servers, various ERP / CMS, service software for network maintenance, etc.
Summing up: it is impossible to be not that professional, but at least to know all this more or less well. But you need to know. It is precisely on this contradiction that the career of a novice administrator is built.
Separately, you need to say about those with whom you encounter during the interview. Unlike other cases, you will be interviewed with a 99% probability of people far from computers. And they will not be checked by your knowledge, but by your adequacy and “quick response”. If you shower them with clever words, they will not perceive you adequately.
This is a man who is blamed on all poorly formalized and tedious work, communication with users and messing with iron.
The main things that enikeyshchik usually does are:
If the company does not have an enikeyshchik, then his duties are performed by the system administrator.
Note, "assistant system administrator" is often almost a consumable material with high turnover. In one company, it came to the point that the head of the department did not know by the names of all the assistant administrators (3 pieces), because at least someone had left once a month and a half.
From the point of view of an enikeyshchik - such work is a springboard into system administration, but by no means the main profession.
We will talk about profiles of specialized system administrators a bit later, but for now about a career within these two professions.
My experience says that people usually go there without a profile education. Most often young, although I interviewed an uncle of 42 years for the position of "assistant system administrator." Despite the fact that the duties described above seem to be almost trivial, for many it is the most difficult step. Becoming an administrator from an assistant administrator is easier than becoming an assistant system administrator.
The main reason: you will want knowledge that is comparable to the administrator. Moreover, half of this knowledge is not presented anywhere in the books and is a passing experience (for example, fussing with bank clients). Another important feature is the “computer sense”, I met many people at the interviews, they simply could not assess the naturalness of what is happening in the computer, which greatly hindered them in analyzing the situation. This is a non-verbal experience, it appears after a long work with computers.
A typical career looks like this: an assistant system administrator (or an administrator in a small company with 5-8 people), an administrator, an administrator (maybe another 2-3 times an administrator), the beginning of a real specialization. Specialization can be of two types: increasing the technical level (instead of superficial knowledge about everything, deep knowledge about a little), and administrative career - head of IT-department, CIO (CIO), etc. These are two completely different directions - the first is connected with computers, the second - with people, personnel management, planning, budgeting, meetings, etc.
The transition from stage to stage is determined by several factors: 1) Theoretical knowledge 2) Practical skills 3) Knowledge of realities 4) Connections and relationships with other people (both inside and outside the company).
Among this, the third point is not very clear. What is "reality"?
It is about knowing what people usually use in companies, how much it costs and how it works. Relatively speaking, this is a person who knows that modern offices put 5e, and not ThickEthernet (as described in the 1993 book), that putting the 6th category is unjustified (although this advises the manufacturer’s booklet), that programmers need an eye and an eye, otherwise, the company will be tightly tied to a specific person, etc. In other words, knowledge of realities is the ability to say what exactly is needed in terms that will be understood by both the supplier and others.
Until a certain point almost everything is decided. Without some skill set, no theoretical knowledge will help. It includes just “many kilometers behind the wheel” - solving a variety of problems, skills of working with the console and standard software, knowledge of the symptoms of problems, knowledge of typical solutions for typical cases.
At first, theoretical knowledge is not very important, because you do not have the proper feeling from computers to get them right. However, if you do not invest your time and efforts in theoretical knowledge, you will not quickly notice how you are stuck at your level. The salary will grow a little bit, perhaps there will be a career, but the ultimate world around will stop changing. The same technology, the same glitches. Lack of theoretical knowledge does not interfere with work - it interferes with understanding how it works and how to repair the non-working. Experience strongly substitutes theory in the sense of solving problems, but does not give strength to see the situation in general, to find the real cause (instead of a reason).
Yes, they mean a lot, especially in the case of a career as an IT director. The only way to avoid having to have a lot of acquaintances and play the king of the hill office games is through professionalism (read, experience and theory). If not, then only personal connections, knowledge of people, the ability to feel them, the ability to order them and in every possible way otherwise to lead. According to my observations, about 30% of enikeyschikov find their first job through an acquaintance.
For highly specialized communications administrators, this is completely different. The narrower the specialization, the smaller the range of employers, the more likely it is to know all or almost all. The presence of a name that has become familiar greatly reduces the time spent searching for work In this case, we are not talking about “connections” in the everyday sense, but about professional fame.
Continued: habrahabr.ru/post/118966
scope: novice system administrators, system administrator assistants, etc. Experienced administrators, as well as those who have a very specific specialization will be useless if interesting.
The approximate structure of the cycle of articles - I will describe how I see the profession of a system administrator, analyze the current attitude to the profession on the part of the employer, then try to give general information about where to start and where to go next.
')
What are the system administrators?
If it is very rough, sysdamy are with a specialization, and without specialization. Usually they start their careers without specialization, then they have several "bent" branches of development and one or two or three, in which their future lives (the classic builds of characters in the RPG correspond very well to this). Sysadmin without specialization - enikeyschik-overgrown (I will analyze this thesis below). However, the demand for sysadmins of narrow specialization is lower (if we count in the pieces of vacancies) than sysadmins of universals (I will also reveal this thesis below). However, with a smaller number of vacancies, the real need for qualified specialists is much higher than there are specialists themselves, that is, the higher the qualification, the less competition. At some point you will have several offers from different companies, although you do not plan to leave the current one.
(Looking a little ahead - the higher the qualifications, the longer the new job is sought, for the top specialist to look for a job for half a year is quite normal. This is typical not only for administrators, but also for other professions with high responsibility and narrow specialization).
Who needs sysadmins?
Since the sysadmin is a profession, they pay money for it. Money is usually paid by company employees. It means that companies need sysadmins.
So, in accordance with the above classification, there are two important types of employers - core and non-core.
Let's start with non-core. A non-core employer is a company that is NOT engaged in IT, or is engaged in it in a region far from a sysadmin. Bright "antipodes" of IT: travel agencies, real estate companies, auto dealers, etc. For them, the administrator is such an “electrician / manager of computers”. They do not need a complex infrastructure, they don’t know what the sysadmins are doing, what is complicated and what is simple there. They cannot control the quality of work of the sysadmin, and the only sign of its success is “working” or “no”. The exact level of the company's development varies greatly and can be reduced to “set up printers and ICQ” before accompanying rather exotic programs (medical institutions are particularly affected). In any case, the IT complexity of their configuration is often minimal, and there is no need to talk about the real “economy” of the sysadmin.
Separately, it is necessary to mention companies with a high degree of non-IT business identity. (A vivid example is trading networks, banks). Most often, in such a company there is a person who is able to assess the quality of work and the complexity of the decision, he is usually able to speak with a sysadmin in a normal language, and not express himself in bird words about “the Internet does not work”, “the processor under the table beeps”, etc d. However, despite the possible complexity of the configuration, it is completely limited by the budget and needs of the company, and usually does not require going beyond the minimum for work. The needs of the IT department are perceived as a pure burden that needs to be upheld in this very bird language.
The second type of employers is profile companies. Most major Internet sites are the same, such as hosters, data centers (if they do something other than renting units / dedicated), companies that have a business tied to computer technology (cellular companies, processing centers). Note that the profile companies also have non-core administrators (who are engaged in servicing workplaces in the back-office), when finding employment, you need to find out for yourself exactly what you are going to do.
Such companies usually look for employees “for tasks”, that is, they need a person who can deal with some area of ​​their activity.
An important feature of the profile companies is the constructiveness of what you are doing. You are no longer an “electrician by computer”, you are a person who determines how well the main tool of a company's business will work. There is usually no concept of "ceiling technology", or bird language.
Who is a universal system administrator?
In fact, such a profession does not exist. It so happened that many companies want to have in their staff a person who will be responsible “for everything computerized”. These are usually non-core companies. And they want one or two, not three dozen certified specialists. (For those who want to tell about their brilliant present in the face of the Oracle administrator, etc. - I repeat, we are talking about the situation on the market). Hence the simple rule: they will want everything from you right away. Moreover, in the future you will find that superficial knowledge about everything is not particularly appreciated. However, such jobs are a great place to start - you can try everything and see what you like the most.
Thus, there is an obvious contradiction between the work of a novice system administrator (more precisely, the requirements that are imposed on him) and further career growth. This contradiction does not appear immediately, but after a while, when a person masters work.
However, back to the work of the system administrator. Here is a list of areas that the system administrator most often encounters. Pay attention - these areas are much beyond the reasonable, but - see above, they want everything from you, at once, and preferably for little money:
What is meant by system administration?
(Speech about system administrators-universals, of course)
- Network administration. In the minimal form, this is the “guru of the configuration of the desktop wi-fi router”, at maximum - the person who plans the network for 1000 people with branches in five cities. This includes: network topology (which piece of hardware in which to stick and why), planning the SCS (where and how many sockets), the configuration of nats and vpns, etc. Any other Internet access control services such as squid, IIS, smart and dumb firewalls, IDS, etc. go to the same heap.
- Administration of workstations. Burned out power supplies, reinstalling windows, solving a problem with another bank client, fixing a fallen print, solving a problem “what should I open this file with”, fighting viruses for windows, etc. The minimum level is to set an office, the maximum one is to develop a group policy for automatically rolling in a new version of software that does not have msi (you have to do it yourself). At the same time, problems are solved with automatic deploem of workstations, backups, safe deletion, etc.
- Centralized authorization. Usually in this capacity is the Active Directory. One of the most "pure" disciplines, it is one of the most difficult. Minimum level - add / remove users, drive a workstation to the domain. Maximum - implement automatic assignment of policies to users of a given OU in the case of access to a computer in one of the nodes of a neighboring tree in the forest (we all love this terminology, yes).
- Post office. Conditionally divided into three worlds: small Windows mail servers (Kerio class), powerful and terrible Exchange, normal linux / freebsd server with any sane mail server (postfix, exim, sendmail, etc.). Minimum level: add a mailbox, add another domain and add an additional email to the user. Maximum level: set up a mail ticket system, mailing list, spam filtering, automatic mailbox creation, etc.
- Database - most often is part of another infrastructure. Specialized database administrators are a completely separate league. Minimum level: install, restart, connect in the application, add / remove database. Usually also the ability to backup and restore it (which is more difficult). There is no maximum level, because if you know well any DBMS, SQL, are able to deploy a server with an active asynchronous subscription to another database, then this is not quite the "universal system administrator". A conditional ceiling can be considered the ability to repair a beaten MyISAM database.
- 1C. Despite the fact that 1C is such a company that produces toys and training disks, by “1C” they usually mean 1C: Enterprise, 1C: Accounting and other nightmarish spawning of misinterpreted accounting and programming. A person who knows a lot about “this” is called a “1C programmer” (not to be confused with normal programmers). Minimum level: create a new database, create / delete a user. Maximum level: correct the configuration, add a field to the report, deal with how 1C reclines with SQL.
- Sites. This can mean almost anything - from “ordering shared hosting” to “solve the performance problem in django-orm when working with postregsql”. Easily in this area may be included copywriting, search spam (SEO), web design, web programming, etc. Minimum level: to be able to make up a little bit in html, the maximum does not exist, because listed different professions. By the way, among them there is a real systadminskaya: the web server administrator is load ballancing, failover, high avablility, clusters, etc., which again goes beyond the category of “universality”.
- Access control systems and video surveillance. Most often, they are made by specialized organizations, however, it happens that the system administrator has to mess around. Minimum level: pick up another camera, register an access card. Maximum level: auto-export video to the archive, synchronization of all types of controls. The future with a high probability is not admin, as far as I know, administrators usually do not like this area.
- ATS. Another area that falls into system administration is random. Minimum level: add call forwarding, connect an additional incoming line. Maximum level: raise your asterisk with voice menu by 300 points, sip-skype gate, routing capable of flipping between IP, copper and E1 depending on conditions. The telephone legacy, “knock crowns” often get here, to understand all kinds of plesiosynchronous incoming lines, E1, etc. I repeat, this is not the admin specialization - in general, telephonists are involved in this.
- Print / Scan. Most often a trivial task, until you have to make printers networked and solve the problems of any industrial printers. Minimum level: pick up the printer; The maximum level is to solve the problem of color profiles, connect the label printer as a network printer, automatically assign printers when a user logs on to a computer.
In addition, there are many specific areas: terminal servers, various ERP / CMS, service software for network maintenance, etc.
Summing up: it is impossible to be not that professional, but at least to know all this more or less well. But you need to know. It is precisely on this contradiction that the career of a novice administrator is built.
Separately, you need to say about those with whom you encounter during the interview. Unlike other cases, you will be interviewed with a 99% probability of people far from computers. And they will not be checked by your knowledge, but by your adequacy and “quick response”. If you shower them with clever words, they will not perceive you adequately.
What is an assistant system administrator?
... aka enikeyschik.This is a man who is blamed on all poorly formalized and tedious work, communication with users and messing with iron.
The main things that enikeyshchik usually does are:
- helpdesk - help desk. Answer phone calls from employees, show how to press any key, help find the column sort button, and pick out a disk stuck in the drive.
- Preparation of workstations - installation, connection, laying of wires, installation of operating systems and software, etc.
- The solution to any irreducible words of garbage with user applications - especially the software from the tax and bank clients.
- Correction of SCS (new sockets, transfer of existing ones), diagnostics of problems, switching, if there are crosses, then their embroidery.
If the company does not have an enikeyshchik, then his duties are performed by the system administrator.
Note, "assistant system administrator" is often almost a consumable material with high turnover. In one company, it came to the point that the head of the department did not know by the names of all the assistant administrators (3 pieces), because at least someone had left once a month and a half.
From the point of view of an enikeyshchik - such work is a springboard into system administration, but by no means the main profession.
We will talk about profiles of specialized system administrators a bit later, but for now about a career within these two professions.
Who goes to enikeyschiki?
My experience says that people usually go there without a profile education. Most often young, although I interviewed an uncle of 42 years for the position of "assistant system administrator." Despite the fact that the duties described above seem to be almost trivial, for many it is the most difficult step. Becoming an administrator from an assistant administrator is easier than becoming an assistant system administrator.
The main reason: you will want knowledge that is comparable to the administrator. Moreover, half of this knowledge is not presented anywhere in the books and is a passing experience (for example, fussing with bank clients). Another important feature is the “computer sense”, I met many people at the interviews, they simply could not assess the naturalness of what is happening in the computer, which greatly hindered them in analyzing the situation. This is a non-verbal experience, it appears after a long work with computers.
Career
A typical career looks like this: an assistant system administrator (or an administrator in a small company with 5-8 people), an administrator, an administrator (maybe another 2-3 times an administrator), the beginning of a real specialization. Specialization can be of two types: increasing the technical level (instead of superficial knowledge about everything, deep knowledge about a little), and administrative career - head of IT-department, CIO (CIO), etc. These are two completely different directions - the first is connected with computers, the second - with people, personnel management, planning, budgeting, meetings, etc.
The transition from stage to stage is determined by several factors: 1) Theoretical knowledge 2) Practical skills 3) Knowledge of realities 4) Connections and relationships with other people (both inside and outside the company).
Among this, the third point is not very clear. What is "reality"?
Knowledge of reality
It is about knowing what people usually use in companies, how much it costs and how it works. Relatively speaking, this is a person who knows that modern offices put 5e, and not ThickEthernet (as described in the 1993 book), that putting the 6th category is unjustified (although this advises the manufacturer’s booklet), that programmers need an eye and an eye, otherwise, the company will be tightly tied to a specific person, etc. In other words, knowledge of realities is the ability to say what exactly is needed in terms that will be understood by both the supplier and others.
Skills
Until a certain point almost everything is decided. Without some skill set, no theoretical knowledge will help. It includes just “many kilometers behind the wheel” - solving a variety of problems, skills of working with the console and standard software, knowledge of the symptoms of problems, knowledge of typical solutions for typical cases.
Theory
At first, theoretical knowledge is not very important, because you do not have the proper feeling from computers to get them right. However, if you do not invest your time and efforts in theoretical knowledge, you will not quickly notice how you are stuck at your level. The salary will grow a little bit, perhaps there will be a career, but the ultimate world around will stop changing. The same technology, the same glitches. Lack of theoretical knowledge does not interfere with work - it interferes with understanding how it works and how to repair the non-working. Experience strongly substitutes theory in the sense of solving problems, but does not give strength to see the situation in general, to find the real cause (instead of a reason).
Connections
Yes, they mean a lot, especially in the case of a career as an IT director. The only way to avoid having to have a lot of acquaintances and play the king of the hill office games is through professionalism (read, experience and theory). If not, then only personal connections, knowledge of people, the ability to feel them, the ability to order them and in every possible way otherwise to lead. According to my observations, about 30% of enikeyschikov find their first job through an acquaintance.
For highly specialized communications administrators, this is completely different. The narrower the specialization, the smaller the range of employers, the more likely it is to know all or almost all. The presence of a name that has become familiar greatly reduces the time spent searching for work In this case, we are not talking about “connections” in the everyday sense, but about professional fame.
Continued: habrahabr.ru/post/118966
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/118475/
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